Italy has fun and fascinating festivals every month of the year, and Italians don’t miss the chance to enjoy as much as possible. You can also do this if you know what events take place each month. Here’s a monthly roundup of the most popular and unusual Italian festivals, parties, and special events. Attending any of these is a great way to experience Italian culture first-hand and make your vacation in Italy even more special.
Keep in mind that when traveling, national holidays are public holidays, when many workers have the day off and some tourist spots are closed. Check in advance if you plan to be in Italy during a public holiday. It may have to be a day of rest for you too.
January
January begins with New Years Day. On January 6, Italians join the many other Europeans in celebrating Epiphany, an important holiday on the Christian calendar that marks the arrival of the Magi with gifts. For the kids, it’s the day they finally get their Christmas toys and sweets that La Befana, an old lady riding a broom, delivered the night before. (If you’re bad, you get lumps of coal!). Also in January, Italians celebrate the holidays of San Antonio Abate and San Sebastiano, and, at the end of January, the Feria de Sant’Orso, an international fair for woodcarving and crafts that is held annually for approximately 1,000 years in the Aosta Valley in Italy. . It pays tribute to Saint Orso, a 6th century Irish woodcarver, and a monk who distributed wooden sandals to the Valley ‘
February
Topping the list of February festivals in Italy is Carnevale, an event with parades and dancing like a pre-Lenten Mardi Gras, celebrated as a final party before Ash Wednesday. In Catania, Sicily, a great festival celebrated on the feast day of Santa Águeda includes the second largest religious procession in the world. Other Italian festivals in February include Saint Biago’s Day, Saint Faustino’s Day, and an almond blossom fair in Agrigento, Sicily.
March
Chocolate songs and gifts mark Italian festivals in March, including La Festa della Donna, honoring women on March 8, and Saint Joseph’s Day, or Father’s Day, on March 19. In Venice, at the important event Marriage of the Sea, also known as In the marriage of the Adriatic, ships leave to commemorate Venice’s connection to the sea, where it once held supremacy. March also marks the start of spring events, which in some years include Easter.
April
In April, you’ll find Rome’s birthday, the San Marco festival in Venice, and St. George’s Day, especially popular in Portofino and Modica. Easter often falls in April and many food festivals in Italy start to occur during the season. . April 25 is Italy’s Liberation Day, a national holiday commemorating the fall of Mussolini’s Italian Social Republic and the end of the Nazis’ occupation of Italy in World War II in 1945.
May
May Day (May 1) in Italy is Labor Day, a national holiday to honor the achievements of the country’s labor movement. This is also the date of the most important festival in Sardinia, the four-day procession of Sant Efisio. In May, there are many spring festivals celebrating flowers, food and wine, and there are many medieval re-enactments. Unusual May festivals in Italy include the wedding of trees in Vetralla and the procession of snake handlers in Abruzzo.
June
Summer in Italy is the season for outdoor festivals. Look for signs advertising a feast or sacred while traveling around the country.
June 2 is Festa della Repubblica, in English, Italian national day or republic day. It marks the fall of fascism and the time Italians voted after World War II to institute a republic and overthrow the monarchy. June 24 is the day of San Giovanni in Florence, when soccer games and fireworks honor the city’s patron saint. Infiorata, colorful carpets of flower petals that resemble paintings, are painstakingly reconstructed in June (and May), usually on Corpus Domini Sunday (Corpus Christi) nine weeks after Easter. Starting in June, too, Italian cities organize open-air music concerts.
July
July is one of the busiest months for festivals in Italy. Siena celebrates its historic Palio horse race in the town square, and there is the much-loved Festa della Madonna Bruna in Matera and L’Ardia di San Costantino in Sardinia. You will find food festivals, medieval festivals, and many fireworks all over the country. There are also many music festivals in July.
August
Ferragosto (Assumption Day) is an important Italian national holiday on August 15. In August, you will find local festivals all over Italy, where you can sample cheap regional food. Many Italians take vacations in August, often on the seashore, so you are more likely to find festivals there. You can even come across a medieval festival where people dress up in medieval costumes. There are also many, many outdoor musical performances in August.
September
In September, Italians return from their vacation. Many festivals take place on the first Sunday in September when summer comes to an end. During the month of September, you will still find local food festivals all over Italy, which are a great place to mingle and sample regional food. The main festivals in September include the Historic Regatta in Venice, the Feast of San Gennaro in Naples, and the Feast of San Michele.
October
October is a very busy month for Italian food festivals, especially for mushrooms, chestnuts, chocolate, and truffles. On the weekends in October, you’ll find fall food festivals and wine harvest celebrations all over Italy. Although Halloween is not a big celebration in Italy, it is becoming more popular and you may find Halloween festivals, especially in the larger cities.
November
November 1 is All Saints Day, which is a national holiday. November is the height of the white truffle season, and you’ll find truffle fairs and chestnut festivals. Rome, which has many music, theater and dance festivals in November, is also home to the important Rome International Film Festival, which attracts world premieres and world movie stars.
December
The celebrations and events in December revolve around Christmas. In December, Italians celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, Saint Lucia’s Day, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Saint Stephen’s Day, and various holidays of other saints. There is a jazz festival in Orvieto, Umbria and in Tuscany, there is a wild boar festival in honor of the emblematic Tuscan animal that is hunted from November to January for its meat, which appears in ragùs and pasta such as pappardelle cinghiale (national dish from Tuscany). The month ends with New Year’s Eve celebrations across the country.
